Amazon Floats First Bond Issue Since 1998

Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) has floated a $3 billion bond issue, according to filings the company submitted to the SEC. The proceeds are to be used for "general corporate purposes," about which Amazon did not elaborate in the SEC filings.

The bonds have three-, five-, and 10-year maturities with yields of 0.742%, 1.301%, and 2.601%, respectively. The company is seeking total proceeds of $750 million from the three-year bonds, $1 billion from the five-year issue, and $1.25 billion for the 2022 notes.

Amazon's move is its first foray into bond financing since 1998, according to The Wall Street Journal, when Amazon's debt was rated as "junk" and it was forced to offer bonds at a relative discount. Since interest rates have been extremely low in recent times, established Internet companies that previously shunned bonds, such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) , have turned to the debt markets to expand their cash positions.

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